Households without vehicles

Commuting

Households without vehicles

steady

What does this measure?

The share of total households lacking a vehicle for transportation.

Why is this important?

Getting around the region without a car is challenging due to long distances between trip origins and destinations and low-density development that does not support extensive transit service. Some parts of the region, however, do have sidewalks and bicycle lanes, and the number of greenways in the region is growing.

How is our region performing?

In 2010-14, 6% of households in the region did not have a vehicle, down from 7% in 2000 but up from 5% in 2005-09. The 2010-14 regional rate was on par with the state but below the nation (9%). Among the counties in the region, Loudon and Sevier had the lowest rates of houses lacking a vehicle (both 4%), while Union and Knox had the highest rates (both 7%). No county's rate rose or fell by more than 1 point from 2000 to 2010-14 besides Loudon, whose rate fell from 6% in 2000 to 4% in 2010-14.

Notes about the data

The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.